A new record was set for the cargo traffic on the Northern Sea Route, with 35 million tonnes of goods transported as at December 21, 2023, up from 34.1 million tonnes in 2022. In 2023, the Russian nuclear icebreakers escorted 730 ship convoys as compared to 653 convoys from January 1 to December 21, 2022. The Northern Sea Route is the primary sea lane in the Russian Arctic, integrating ports in the European and Far Eastern parts of Russia and estuaries of navigable Siberian rivers into a single transport infrastructure. This 5,600-kilometer lane stretches from the Kara Strait to Cape Dezhnyov.